Skin like Styrofoam

As a kid I loved drinking out of Styrofoam cups.  When I was finished with my drink, I liked to bite off chunks all the way around the rim.  I'd chew the Styrofoam and then, well, spit it out.  Then came the days when people complained that Styrofoam wouldn't ever go away in our landfills and you couldn't recycle it, it was bad news.  I still enjoyed biting my cup anyway.

You have to be careful when you hold Styrofoam; if you hold it too tightly, you'll crush it.  It works great for coolers, but they break easily too.  Lately, I've come to think of people as having Styrofoam skin.  It looks like it's strong, but it's looks are deceptive.  There are a lot of loud people who act strong, but are about as sturdy as a Styrofoam cup.

Somehow as a culture we've lost our ability to be flexible and roll with being offended.  Frankly, I think we are setting an unhealthy trend.  People need to be able to be offended, and we need to quit acting like it's the end of the world when someone says or stands for something we don't like.

PC, politically correct correctness has evolved, or maybe better said devolved, into an emotionally handicapping state of affairs.  If it's not PC, then it's people being offended over phrases or symbols or stances they find unacceptable.  You may not like what someone says or what they stand for, but you shouldn't crumple emotionally over the situation.  Get over it and move on.

If we as a culture or nation can't handle being offended, we won't be able to defend ourselves from real threats, threats that can destroy us.  We will no longer be the land of the free or the home of the brave, not if we chose to live in mamby pamby land, and the idea of mamby pamby land makes me want to spit.